I totally agree!! I don't think they meant it to sound so stigmatizing but they could've picked their words a bit more carfeully. I'll see what others think and if they agree I will change it. I just got it off the net.
I didn't read it thouroughly enough obviously. Sorry. x

Schizoaffective disorder is a psychiatric diagnosis of a neurobiological nature. It describes a condition where both the symptoms of a mood disorder and schizophrenia are present. A person may manifest impairments in the perception or expression of reality, most commonly manifesting as auditory hallucinations, paranoid or bizarre delusions or disorganized speech and thinking, as well as discrete manic and/or depressive episodes in the context of significant social or occupational dysfunction. The disorder usually begins in early adulthood, although, rarely, it is diagnosed in childhood (prior to age 13). Schizoaffective disorder is more common in women than in men. Despite the greater variety of symptoms, the illness course is more episodic and has an overall more favourable outcome (prognosis) than schizophrenia but worse than mood disorders.

My understanding is that schizoaffective disorder is essentially bipolar disorder that becomes so severe, that the person occassionally experiences schizophrenia-like symptoms.

That makes sense, because when a person's moods become so extreme, either on the high (manic) or low (depression) end of the scale, their perceptions can become distorted by the filter of an extreme mood.

The good news, is that by stabilizing the moods, and making a strenuous effort to move forward and live a normal life, the mood swings will eventually lessen in severity, and the diagnosis can be upgraded to plain old bipolar disorder.

Then from there, it's only one more step down to plain old depression.

People can be cured of these things and make full recoveries. It's very important to understand that. It's only the fear and limiting belief systems injected into the minds of the sufferers that causes many people to succumb to the fear and neglect to push FORWARD and make every effort to live a normal life, which is the very thing that will re-program and re-stabilize the mind, curing the condition.

Mental illness is a continuum... from depression on the mild end, and progressing in severity to bipolar disorder, then schizoaffective disorder, to paranoid schizophrenia.

What that means is that, not only can someone get worse and be diagnosed with a more severe disorder, but everyone can also get better, and have their diagnoses progressively upgraded, as they make progress and move towards full recovery.

And the more effort you make to move forward and live a normal life, the quicker you will see improvement, and the closer you will get towards making a full recovery.

I don't agree that we need to return to a previous normalcy. As of yet, there is no cure for mental illness. My therapist gave me a really good article about recovery and it states that recovery is not about returning to a previous existence, but about finding a new way to have a meaningful and productive life. I like that definition of recovery a lot better, because it points to a new future where one has learned from their illness. In this way, I think that this can make one's existence even more meaningful than the previous, even if one has to dramatically adjust their lifestyle. It's a step forward, in my opinion, it just sucks getting there. lol

I miss traveling with my husband. Has anyone found a specific site regarding cruising for widow/widowers or any sightseeing trips. Not interested in being with couples and kids,,,I realize a cruise ship will have a portion size of families and couples, but perhaps they also put together a part of the cruise ship for groups of widows/widowers????

A friend sent this to me..As far as I can see, grief will never truly end.It may become softer overtime, more gentleand some days will feel sharp.But grief will last as long as Love does - ForeverIt's simply the way the absence of your loved onemanifests in your heart. A deep longing accompaniedby the deepest Love some days. The heavy fog mayreturn and the next day, it may recede.Once again, it's...

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